Jobstarters

Vice-Mayor Jimmy Lazatin said that the JobStart Philippines program is an employment facilitation initiative of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) with funding support from the Government of Canada and technical assistance from the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The program seeks to assist young and unemployed Filipinos start their careers and find meaningful employment.

“It mainly aims to enhance the knowledge and skills acquired by jobseekers in formal education or technical training in order for them to become more responsive to the demands of the labor market,” Lazatin said.

It also aims to help the youth develop their life skills, including those relevant to the values of professionalism and work appreciation, and provide trainees with conducive and safe work environment or venue where they can apply relevant theories and proper work ethics. Likewise, this program is designed to improve the capacity of Public Employment and Services Office (PESO) in providing full-cycle employment facilitation services.

The program covers those at-risk-youth, out of school, unemployed, and poor. Qualifications must be a Filipino citizen, 18-24 years old, at least high school level, should currently be unemployed, not in education nor training, and have no or less than one year work experience. The program has three phases: first is the life skills training, second is the technical training, and last is the internship.

Lazatin said that those who finished the program have a greater chance of making it through an industry and find work.